The early morning hours of July 6, 1943, found the USS "Helena" off the Solomon Islands in what would later be known as the Battle of Kula Gulf. But the ship s participation in the battle came to a swift end when three Japanese torpedoes suddenly struck. One hundred and sixty-eight sailors went down with the ship, many never surviving the initial torpedo hits. As the last of the "Helena" disappeared below the ocean s surface, the remaining crewmen s struggle for survival had only just begun."Sunk in Kula Gulf" tells the epic story of the "Helena" s survivors. Two destroyers plucked more than seven hundred from the sea in a night rescue operation as the battle continued to rage. A second group of eighty-eight sailors clustered into three lifeboats made it to a nearby island and was rescued the next day. A third group of survivors, spread over a wide area, was missed entirely. Clinging to life rafts or debris, the weary men were pushed away from the area of the sinking by a strong current. After enduring days at sea under the hot tropical sun, they finally found land. It was, however, the Japanese-held island of Vella Lavella and deep behind the front lines. The survivors organized and disappeared into the island s interior jungle. Living a meager existence, the group evaded the Japanese for eight days until the Marines and U.S. Navy evacuated the shipwrecked sailors in a daring rescue operation. Using a wide variety of sources, including previously unpublished firsthand accounts, John J. Domagalski brings to life this amazing, little-known story from World War II."

This book is written about a Light Cruiser that was heavily involved in the Solomon's in the far Pacific. It seemed that she was indestructable and possessed of a charmed life. Time after time when trouble struck and it seemed that disaster lurked in the wings the angel of death passed over her. But those who repeatedly tempt fate are destined to reap a bitter harvest. It happened after the Enemy had been driven off the Island of Guadalcanal and had retired to the Island of New Georgia to make a desperate stand. But the United States Military Forces were not to be denied the Fruits of Final Victory. Fierce nocturnal Fights erupted at Night in the Sea around the Island of New Georgia. And it was on one of these terrible nights in a God Forsaken stretch of Water the Natives called Kula Gulf that the Helena's charmed life came to an end. The first Torpedo tore off her bow; two more torpedoes broke her hull in two pieces and put her on the bottom. About 176 men perished in the sinking. Another 760 were cast into the sea. Two destroyer picked up about 500 of them and fled the scene to be out of reach of the Japanese dive bombers before dawn began to light up the eastern sky. This book is about the rescue of the remaining crew members who remained in the dark murky waters of Kula Gulf. These unfortunate men had no assurance that they would ever be rescued. Many of them spent what seemed to be endless hours tortured by thirst; plagued by the pain of burns and other injuries that exposed raw flesh to the Salt Water. It was a hellish situation if there ever was one. From time to time another and another gave up the fight to survive and sank below the sea to rise no more. Here they were cast into the dark waters right at the enemies doorstep. But their salvation was waiting in the wings as the valor and devotion to their fellow comrades decided the issue. Like the Cavalry of Old charging across the prairie with the Bugles Shrill notes blowing the Charge the remaining destoyers at Guadalcanal came to their rescue. This in the final analysis is the incredible Story of that Valiant Rescue.

This book is written about a Light Cruiser that was heavily involved in the Solomon's in the far Pacific. It seemed that she was indestructable and possessed of a charmed life. Time after time when trouble struck and it seemed that disaster lurked in the wings the angel of death passed over her. But those who repeatedly tempt fate are destined to reap a bitter harvest. It happened after the Enemy had been driven off the Island of Guadalcanal and had retired to the Island of New Georgia to make a desperate stand. But the United States Military Forces were not to be denied the Fruits of Final Victory. Fierce nocturnal Fights erupted at Night in the Sea around the Island of New Georgia. And it was on one of these terrible nights in a God Forsaken stretch of Water the Natives called Kula Gulf that the Helena's charmed life came to an end. The first Torpedo tore off her bow; two more torpedoes broke her hull in two pieces and put her on the bottom. About 176 men perished in the sinking. Another 760 were cast into the sea. Two destroyer picked up about 500 of them and fled the scene to be out of reach of the Japanese dive bombers before dawn began to light up the eastern sky. This book is about the rescue of the remaining crew members who remained in the dark murky waters of Kula Gulf. These unfortunate men had no assurance that they would ever be rescued. Many of them spent what seemed to be endless hours tortured by thirst; plagued by the pain of burns and other injuries that exposed raw flesh to the Salt Water. It was a hellish situation if there ever was one. From time to time another and another gave up the fight to survive and sank below the sea to rise no more. Here they were cast into the dark waters right at the enemies doorstep. But their salvation was waiting in the wings as the valor and devotion to their fellow comrades decided the issue. Like the Cavalry of Old charging across the prairie with the Bugles Shrill notes blowing the Charge the remaining destoyers at Guadalcanal came to their rescue. This in the final analysis is the incredible Story of that Valiant Rescue.

This project began twenty-five years ago when I worked as a stringer for the Nashua Telegraph. The paper hired a number of correspondents at the time to cover local news and events in the small towns around Nashua. I reported on the selectmen’s meetings and the planning board meetings in Mason and Greenville and the Mascenic School Board. The editors encouraged us to write special features about people, places, and events.

My brother Glenn served in the US Eighth Air Force during the Air War over Germany in 1944. His plane was shot down on his 22nd mission just inside the French Coast two days before the Landing on D-Day. He was rescued by French farmers but later was betrayed by another frenchman in Paris to the Gestapo. He was incarcerated in Buchenwald, one of the Death Camps. He survived the War and lived his life out in the Town in East Texas he grew up in. This is his Story in his words.

Hitler’s attempt to murder all of Europe’s Jews almost succeeded. One reason it fell short of its nefarious goal was the work of brave non-Jews who sheltered their fellow citizens. In most countries under German control, those who rescued Jews risked imprisonment and death. In Poland, home to more Jews than any other country at the start of World War II and location of six German-built death camps, the punishment was immediate execution. This book tells the stories of Polish Holocaust survivors and their rescuers. The authors traveled extensively in the United States and Poland to interview some of the few remaining participants before their generation is gone. Tammeus and Cukierkorn unfold many stories that have never before been made public: gripping narratives of Jews who survived against all odds and courageous non-Jews who risked their own lives to provide shelter. These are harrowing accounts of survival and bravery. Maria Devinki lived for more than two years under the floors of barns. Felix Zandman sought refuge from Anna Puchalska for a night, but she pledged to hide him for the whole war if necessary—and eventually hid several Jews for seventeen months in a pit dug beneath her house. And when teenage brothers Zygie and Sol Allweiss hid behind hay bales in the Dudzik family’s barn one day when the Germans came, they were alarmed to learn the soldiers weren’t there searching for Jews, but to seize hay. But Zofia Dudzik successfully distracted them, and she and her husband insisted the boys stay despite the danger to their own family. Through some twenty stories like these, Tammeus and Cukierkorn show that even in an atmosphere of unimaginable malevolence, individuals can decide to act in civilized ways. Some rescuers had antisemitic feelings but acted because they knew and liked individual Jews. In many cases, the rescuers were simply helping friends or business associates. The accounts include the perspectives of men and women, city and rural residents, clergy and laypersons—even children who witnessed their parents’ efforts. These stories show that assistance from non-Jews was crucial, but also that Jews needed ingenuity, sometimes money, and most often what some survivors called simple good luck. Sixty years later, they invite each of us to ask what we might do today if we were at risk—or were asked to risk our lives to save others.